N3 Belturbet Bypass & potential implications for bus services:

Geog1234

The N3 Belturbet Bypass is scheduled to be completed in under a year. The benefits will inter alia be a faster journey for through traffic and the removal of articulated trucks from the town. The following article articulates the gist of potential benefits/disbenefits: http://www.anglocelt.ie/news/roundup/articles/2012/04/11/4009988-does-a-bypass-necessarily-help-a-town-/


Another issue raised in the local media some months ago was the implications for scheduled bus services.


The new bypass only potentially affects Bus Éireann Expressway route 30 (Donegal-Enniskillen-Cavan-Dublin Airport-Dublin) operated in conjunction with McGeehan Coaches (Ulsterbus route 58 [Belturbet-Derrylin-Kinawley-Enniskillen] terminates in the town anyway).


There are several angles/scenarios:


1. Stops could be put in place (both sides of road) near Staghall roundabout. That would allow coaches avoid the town centre and save around five minutes on the Donegal-Dublin journey. Such a stop may suit those who can get dropped to the stop by car but for the majority it would be a long and inconvenient walk and will put people off using the service in the first place. It’s also a little isolated early-morning/late-evening and in the dark. A quite realistic outcome is that the bus company saves a few minutes but also loses some passengers. Nobody wins.




2. Coaches continue to serve the town but from the Dublin direction use the N3 Bypass to Staghall, then enter the town and go back out. There’s no ideal way of looping around the town though. It’s far from ideal for large well-laden coaches to loop round via The Lawn and Water Lane to the Diamond and back out again (Donegal-Dublin coaches would do the same).




3. Coaches continue to serve the town and traverse the to be old N3 (a new R road or third class road even?) from Annagh via Drumaloor and Bunn etc… No change to the timetable. In fact in this scenario and given the fact that there would be very little traffic on the “old road” surely there would be scope for a small number of journeys (possibly the Cavan-Enniskillen short journeys) to operate hail and ride along the road and stop at Drumaloor, Sugar Loaf etc…



Personal view is that the majority (if not all) coaches should still come into the town and serve the stop at the Diamond. Coaches have never “blocked up” the town – except when bad parking in the vicinity of stops has meant coache drivers have been left with no alternative but to literally stop in the middle of the road.


A map of the bypass route can be found here:
http://www.cavancoco.ie/cavanweb/publish/domain/cavancoco/Default.aspx?StructureID_str=387




(do not work for any transport provider but am interested in views fellow public transport users may have)

Bummer1234

All great points there OP, As a person from close to the town i know there is alot of people in the town that does not drive at all and rely on the daily Bus that goes through the town.

On a sunday evening you can see a very Full bus stop heading back to Dublin(That general Direction).

Its a potential gain for Bus eireann on the grounds of not having to go into the town and safe time or a potential loss at losing customers at the same time.

Im sure theres other people that may speak differently to it but i say stick to the old n3 and see how it goes.

munchkin_utd

The 30 bus no longer goes to west Cavan and goes direct from Belturbet to Derrylin (and beyond) so thats one major change now in making the bus more a Donegal service than previously was the case.

BUT its not all bad news.....

Bus Éireann announced on Friday that its their intention to extend its existing State funded Monaghan-Cavan 175 route to provide six services a day (Monday to Friday) and three services a day (Saturday-Sunday) in each direction from Swanlinbar, Bawnboy and Ballyconnell to Cavan and Monaghan. The extension of the service however is subject to approval from the National Transport Authority.

http://www.anglocelt.ie/news/breakingnews/articles/2012/10/15/4012746-proposals-to-reinstate-west-cavan-bus-services-welcomed/

If this is the case then the Express can bypass Belturbet without any effect as the local bus to Cavan will still be there where folks from Belturbet can get the hourly bus to Dublin.
The bus to Enniskillen will also be there with the Ulsterbus service.

Geog1234

Since 2008 all of the Donegal to Dublin and vice versa services have operated direct (from Belturbet) via Derrylin.

In the intervening four years there only has ever been a Cavan to Enniskillen shuttle service and no through services via West Cavan to/from Donegal or Dublin. The sole exception to this was the 18.00hrs. route 30 ex Dublin which operated through to Swanlinbar.

Given the forthcoming extension of route 175 it's probably inevitable that Bus Éireann will look at removing some route 30 journeys from Belturbet (and running them on the Bypass once it opens). But not all of the 175s would connect with a route 30 at Cavan. Whilst route 109 runs hourly ex Cavan this of little use for anyone bound for the Airport (as generally the 109 can lose a few minutes en route meaning the xx:50 route 109A ex Kells will already have left leaving the passenger for the Airport with an hour to wait at Kells bus shelter). In the reverse direction in some cases a 40 minute wait at Cavan Bus Station would be necessary for City/Airport to Belturbet journeys.

It will likely be a delicate balance between looking at removing some route 30s but at the same time Belturbet is a sizeable place generating a fair amount of passengers and the company will not want to remove all route 30s from the town as that very likely would lead to a marked loss of business.

Furthermore route 175 will not run at certain times e.g. early-morning so journeys like the 02.38 and 06.38 ex Belturbet to Dublin would still need to serve the town.

That's my take on the matter anyway.